It's an annual ritual: the glow of the holidays begins to fade, Winter turns to Spring, and EA Sports readies another installment of its Tiger Woods golf series. Mayan predictions about the end of the world aside, 2012 is no different than any other year, and like clockwork, EA Sports has taken the wraps off Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13.
For many annualized sports franchises, familiarity breeds contempt as each new iteration offers only minor variations on its predecessor. That won't be the case for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13. In addition to a pair of new cover stars, PGA Tour 13 features a significantly revamped swing mechanic, Kinect support on Xbox 360, and Online Country Clubs. The game also supports EA Sports' Season Ticket program, which will allow subscribers digital access to the game three days before its March 27th release date (March 30th outside North America).
For a quick overview of what will make Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 stand out from the pack, check out the game's announcement trailer.
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The Tiger Woods series debuted its now-ubiquitous analog swing mechanic a decade ago, and not much has changed since then. This year, EA Sports is introducing Total Swing Control, which promises to make the game play more like real golf than ever before. Granted, the new mechanic may look daunting to non-golfers, but the nuanced control it's designed to offer should be worth the trade-off.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 Lead Designer Mike DeVault walks players through the specifics of Total Swing Control in the video below.
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Along with the trailers, EA Sports has issued a generous number of PGA Tour 13 screenshots. Check out images of Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, and the Pebble Beach golf course straight from the game.
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For just $10 more than the standard edition of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, The Masters Collector's Edition offers a number of bonuses, not the least of which is more courses to play on. EA Sports is promising more details on the package during the week of March 6th, but until then, check out the announced features below.
The Collector’s Edition provides fans with the ultimate Masters experience. Fans that purchase the Collector’s Edition will receive all of the features in the standard edition game, as well as exclusive access to Augusta National Golf Club’s Tournament practice facility, Augusta National’s famous Par 3 Course, an authentic Green Jacket Presentation and a chance to explore the hallowed grounds like never before.
The Collector’s Edition also comes packed with five additional championship courses in addition to the standard edition, allowing players to experience 21 of the world’s greatest golfing destinations.
Five additional courses? Sounds like a must buy for fans -- as long as they own either a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360.
In a genuinely surprising turn of events, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 is not headed to the Nintendo Wii, despite supporting Kinect (for the first time) and PlayStation Move. The series has been a posterboy for Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus since the add-on first released, and has even been packaged with the peripheral in the past.
PGA Tour 13 is conspicuous by its absence on Nintendo hardware. Could the game be bound for Wii U, and if so, what does that say about a potential Wii U release date? What do you think?
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 and The Masters Collector's Edition will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3 March 27, 2012, in North America, and March 30, 2012, in the rest of the world.
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